Improvement in boiler-feeders



water and steam spaces of the boiler, and proi 'UNITED STATES BATENT@Errea W. S. VELLS, OF NEW YORK, AND S. B. WELLS, OF MIDDLEBURG, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN Bo'lLER-FEEDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 54,798, dated May 15,1866.

To all whom fit 'may concern:

Be it known that we, W. S. WELLS, of New York, State of New York, and S.B. WELLS, of Middleburg, of the county of Schoharie, in the State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AutomaticFeed Apparatus for Steam-Boilers; and we do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description thereof, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

Our invention relates to a new and automatic method of regulating thesupply of water to steam -boilers by controlling from the boiler thesteampump which supplies the boiler with water; and our inventionconsists in the employment, in combination with the boilers and thesteam-feed pump, of a suitable chamber or vessel communicating with thevided with a suitable ioat mechanism which operates upon and controlsthe valve through which steam is supplied to the pump, all ashereinafter more fully set forth.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use our invention, wewill proceed to describe the construction and operation of the same,referring by letters to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisapplication, and in which- Figure l is a side elevation of a boiler withour arrangement of automatic feed-regulator. Fig. 2 is a partialvertical section of same, showing a modification of our said invention.

It will perhaps be best to describe the two modes shown (of carrying'out our invention) separately.

In Fig. 1, A is an ordinary steam-boiler, from which extends asteam-pipe, B, to supply steam to the feedpump. (We have not shown thepump, which may be of any known construction.)

C is a cylindrical vessel arranged near the boiler and communicatingwith it by means of two pipes, D and E, the former connecting the upperportion of said vessel C with the steamspace of the boiler, and thelatter, E, connectL ing the lower portion of vessel O with the waterspaee of theV boiler.

F is a lioat suspended from one end of the lever g, which lever ispivoted at IL, and has its other end weighted by a weight, I, to balancethe float F, and also connected by a rod or arm, J to the bar of anordinary throttle-valve at `L in the pipe B.

rlhe operation of this apparatus will be understood to be as follows,viz: Suppose the supply of water in the boiler to be sufficient,

as seen by blue lines, and the valve at Ll closed, so that thesteam-supply pump is not in operation. Now then, the moment the water inthe boiler gets below the level shown the tloat F will descend inproportion, the lever g will be swung on its fulcrnm h, whereby the rodJ will be caused to operate upon the valve at L in such manner as toopener partially open it, and thereby admit steam to pass through thepipe B to the steam -feed pump and put it into operation. The workin gof the steam-pump replenishes the water in the boiler until itreachesits former level, as shown. The ilo-at F, meantime reascending toits former position, operates the lever g and rod J in an oppositedirection to that just explained, gradually closing the valve L, andfinally shutting off the supply of steam from pipe B to the feed-pump,and stopping, finally, the operation of the latter. .llhus the steam issupplied to and cut off from the feed-pump alternately as the waterrises and falls in the boiler. Ot'

l course the tendency will be to carry on this operation regularly, sothat the water will always be maintained at just about a given level inthe boiler.

The precise form and arrangement of the several parts is immaterial, solong as the mode ot' operation just explained is effected.

In the modification shown at Fig. 2, and Which perhaps is the best formof practically applying our invention, A is the boiler, C the auxiliaryvessel, D and E the connectingtubes, all as shown in and described ofFig. 1. But in this form of our invention the steam for supplying thefeed-pump passes through the vessel C and off by a pipe, O, extending'from said vessel to the pump.

Within the vessel C, above the highest level of water and below theupper connection-pipe,

D, are arranged two horizontal partitions, in each of which is a hole oropening provided with an ordinary valve, mi. These valves are connectedby a rod, p, so as always to work together and operate asbalance-valves, being within the steam-space of the vessel C, and bothopening downward. To the lower valve is connected, beneath it, the floatF, and the pipe O, it will be seen, communicates with the steam-space ofvessel C at a point between the two valves n n.

Now it will be seen that with this arrangement of the devices the sameend Will be accomplished in substantially the same manner as With themodification seen at Fig. 1.

In Fig. 2 the valves n are shown as open. In this condition ofthe partssteam is passing from the steam-space of the boiler A through pipe D tovessel C, thence through pipe O to the pump, which is supposed to beruiming and supplying Water to" the boiler. As water is pumped into theboiler the float F gradually rises and closes the valves n n, (when theWater has reached the proper level,) thus shutting oft' the supply topipe O, and consequently to the feed-pump.

It Will be understood that by our invention the condition of the waterin the boiler is perfectly and automaticallyregulated, and it will beseen that the arrangement of the parts may be varied in many WaysWithout departing from the spirit of our invention. Of course the floatF should be made of a material of the proper specific gravityT to act inthe desired manner, and in the modification seen at Fig. 1 the weight Imay be .made adjustable if deemed expedient.

Having fully explained our invention, so th at those skilled in the artcan make and use the same, What We claim as new7 and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

The combination, with a steam-boiler, of anauxiliary steam and waterchamber provided with a oat so constructed with the valves through whichsteam is supplied to the feedpump as to cause the starting up andstopping of the said pump when the several parts are arranged as hereindescribed.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto set

